SPACE/COSMOS
Cosmic mystery deepens as astronomers find object flashing in both radio waves and X-rays
Astronomers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), in collaboration with international teams, have made a startling discovery about a new type of cosmic phenomenon
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An image of the sky showing the region around ASKAP J1832-0911. X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, radio data from the South African MeerKAT radio telescope, and infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope
view moreCredit: Ziteng (Andy) Wang, ICRAR
Astronomers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), in collaboration with international teams, have made a startling discovery about a new type of cosmic phenomenon.
The object, known as ASKAP J1832-0911, emits pulses of radio waves and X-rays for two minutes every 44 minutes.
This is the first time objects like these, called long-period transients (LPTs), have been detected in X-rays. Astronomers hope it may provide insights into the sources of similar mysterious signals observed across the sky.
The team discovered ASKAP J1832-0911 by using the ASKAP radio telescope on Wajarri Country in Australia, owned and operated by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO. They correlated the radio signals with X-ray pulses detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was coincidentally observing the same part of the sky.
“Discovering that ASKAP J1832-0911 was emitting X-rays felt like finding a needle in a haystack,” said lead author Dr Ziteng (Andy) Wang from the Curtin University node of ICRAR.
“The ASKAP radio telescope has a wide field view of the night sky, while Chandra observes only a fraction of it. So, it was fortunate that Chandra observed the same area of the night sky at the same time.”
LPTs, which emit radio pulses that occur minutes or hours apart, are a relatively recent discovery. Since their first detection by ICRAR researchers in 2022, ten LPTs have been discovered by astronomers across the world.
Currently, there is no clear explanation for what causes these signals, or why they ‘switch on’ and ‘switch off’ at such long, regular and unusual intervals.
“This object is unlike anything we have seen before,” Dr Wang said.
“ASKAP J1831-0911 could be a magnetar (the core of a dead star with powerful magnetic fields), or it could be a pair of stars in a binary system where one of the two is a highly magnetised white dwarf (a low-mass star at the end of its evolution).”
However, even those theories do not fully explain what we are observing. This discovery could indicate a new type of physics or new models of stellar evolution.”
Detecting these objects using both X-rays and radio waves may help astronomers find more examples and learn more about them.
According to second author Professor Nanda Rea from the Institute of Space Science (ICE-CSIC) and Catalan Institute for Space studies (IEEC) in Spain, “Finding one such object hints at the existence of many more. The discovery of its transient X-ray emission opens fresh insights into their mysterious nature,”
“What was also truly remarkable is that this study showcases an incredible teamwork effort, with contributions from researchers across the globe with different and complementary expertise,” she said.
The discovery also helps narrow down what the objects might be. Since X-rays are much higher energy than radio waves, any theory must account for both types of emission – a valuable clue, given their nature remains a cosmic mystery.
The paper “Detection of X-ray Emission from a Bright Long-Period Radio Transient” was published overnight in Nature.
ASKAP J1832-0911 is located in our Milky Way galaxy about 15,000 light-years from Earth.
Mysterious signals in X-ray and Radio [VIDEO] |
ICRAR's Ziteng (Andy) Wang explains a mysterious new object that pulses in both radio waves and X-rays every 44 minutes.
Credit
ICRAR
Radio and X-ray light curves showing how ASKAP J1832-0911 pulses at both bands.
Credit
Ziteng (Andy) Wang, ICRAR
ICRAR/Curtin’s Dr Ziteng (Andy) Wang, pictured in front of CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope.
Credit
ICRAR
This artist's illustration depicts NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in space.
Credit
NASA/CXC & J. Vaughan
CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope on Wajarri Yamaji Country in Australia.
Credit
CSIRO
Journal
Nature
Method of Research
Meta-analysis
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Detection of X-ray Emission from a Bright Long-Period Radio Transient
Article Publication Date
28-May-2025
Observing one-dimensional anyons: Exotic quasiparticles in the coldest corners of the universe
Quantum physics: Turning bosons into anyons in a quantum gas
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Researchers inject an impurity into a one-dimensional ultracold gas, thereby generating a quasiparticle with exotic properties.
view moreCredit: University of Innsbruck
Nature categorizes particles into two fundamental types: fermions and bosons. While matter-building particles such as quarks and electrons belong to the fermion family, bosons typically serve as force carriers—examples include photons, which mediate electromagnetic interactions, and gluons, which govern nuclear forces. When two fermions are exchanged, the quantum wave function picks up a minus sign, i.e., mathematically speaking, a phase of pi. This is totally different for bosons: Their phase upon exchange is zero. This quantum statistical property has drastic consequences for the behaviour of either fermionic or bosonic quantum many-body systems. It explains why the periodic table is built up the way it is, and it is at the heart of superconductivity.
However, in low-dimensional systems, a fascinating new class of particles emerges: anyons—neither fermions nor bosons, with exchange phases between zero and pi. Unlike traditional particles, anyons do not exist independently but arise as excitations within quantum states of matter. This phenomenon is akin to phonons, which manifest as vibrations in a string yet behave as distinct "particles of sound." While anyons have been observed in two-dimensional media, their presence in one-dimensional (1D) systems has remained elusive—until now.
A study published in Nature reports the first observation of emergent anyonic behaviour in a 1D ultracold bosonic gas. This research is a collaboration between Hanns-Christoph Nägerl’s experimental group at the University of Innsbruck (Austria), theorist Mikhail Zvonarev at Université Paris-Saclay, and Nathan Goldman’s theory group at Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) & Collège de France (Paris). The research team achieved this remarkable feat by injecting and accelerating a mobile impurity into a strongly interacting bosonic gas, meticulously analysing its momentum distribution. Their findings reveal that the impurity enables the emergence of anyons in the system.
“What's remarkable is that we can dial in the statistical phase continuously, allowing us to smoothly transition from bosonic to fermionic behavior,” says Sudipta Dhar, one of the leading authors of the study. “This represents a fundamental advance in our ability to engineer exotic quantum states.” The theorist Botao Wang agrees: “Our modelling directly reflects this phase and allows us to capture the experimental results very well in our computer simulations.”
This elegantly simple experimental framework opens new avenues for studying anyons in highly controlled quantum gases. Beyond fundamental research, such studies are particularly exciting because certain types of anyons are predicted to enable topological quantum computing—a revolutionary approach that could overcome key limitations of today’s quantum processors.
This discovery marks a pivotal step in the exploration of quantum matter, shedding new light on exotic particle behaviour that may shape the future of quantum technologies.
Publication: Observing anyonization of bosons in a quantum gas. Sudipta Dhar, Botao Wang, Milena Horvath, Amit Vashisht, Yi Zeng, Mikhail B. Zvonarev, Nathan Goldman, Yanliang Guo, Manuele Landini, Hanns-Christoph Nägerl. Nature 2025 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09016-9 [arXiv: 2412.21131]
Journal
Nature
Method of Research
Experimental study
Article Title
Observing anyonization of bosons in a quantum gas
Article Publication Date
28-May-2025
SwRI scientists contribute to uncovering ongoing surface modification on Jupiter’s moon Europa
Latest data indicate that material from Europa’s subsurface ocean is interacting with charged particles at its surface
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Experiments led by Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Ujjwal Raut have produced evidence to support spectral data recently collected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) showing that the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa is constantly changing. The JWST shows that ice on Europa is developing at different rates in different places, such as Tara Regio, where crystalline ice (lighter colors) is found on the surface as well as below the surface.
view moreCredit: Southwest Research Institute
SAN ANTONIO — May 28, 2025 —A series of experiments led by Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Ujjwal Raut support spectral data recently collected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that found evidence that the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa is constantly changing. Europa’s surface ice is crystallizing at different rates in different places, which could point to a complex mix of external processes and geologic activity affecting the surface.
Water ice can be divided into two broad categories based on its structure. On Earth, crystalline ice occurs when water molecules arrange into a hexagonal pattern during the freezing process. But on the surface of Europa, exposed water ice is constantly bombarded by charged particles that disrupt the crystalline structure, forming what is referred to as amorphous ice.
Raut, a program manager in SwRI’s Planetary Science Section, cowrote a paper outlining the findings from extensive laboratory experiments conducted by his team to understand the Europa’s icy surface. The experiments proved critical to constrain the time scales for the amorphization and recrystallization of ice on Europa, particularly in the chaos terrains where features such as ridges, cracks and plains are jumbled and enmeshed with one another. Combined with the new data collected by JWST, Raut said they are seeing increasing evidence for a liquid ocean beneath the icy surface.
For the past couple decades, scientists have thought that Europa’s surface was covered by a very thin layer of amorphous ice protecting crystalline ice beneath this upper veneer (~ 0.5 mm depths). This new study found crystalline ice on the surface as well as at depth in some areas on Europa, especially an area known as Tara Regio.
“We think that the surface is fairly porous and warm enough in some areas to allow the ice to recrystallize rapidly,” said Dr. Richard Cartwright, lead author of the paper and a spectroscopist at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. “Also, in this same region, generally referred to as a chaos region, we see a lot of other unusual things, including the best evidence for sodium chloride, like table salt, probably originating from its interior ocean. We also see some of the strongest evidence for CO2 and hydrogen peroxide on Europa. The chemistry in this location is really strange and exciting.”
“Our data showed strong indications that what we are seeing must be sourced from the interior, perhaps from a subsurface ocean nearly 20 miles (30 kilometers) beneath Europa’s thick icy shell,” said Raut. “This region of fractured surface materials could point to geologic processes pushing subsurface materials up from below. When we see evidence of CO2 at the surface, we think it must have come from an ocean below the surface. The evidence for a liquid ocean underneath Europa’s icy shell is mounting, which makes this so exciting as we continue to learn more.”
For instance, CO2 found in this area includes the most common type of carbon, which has an atomic mass of 12 and contains six protons and six neutrons, as well as the rarer, heavier isotope that has an atomic mass of 13 with six protons and seven neutrons.
“Where is this 13CO2 coming from? It is hard to explain, but every road leads back to an internal origin, which is in line with other hypotheses about the origin of 12CO2 detected in Tara Regio,” Cartwright said.
To read the Planetary Science Journal article, see: 10.3847/PSJ/adcab9.
For more information, visit https://www.swri.org/markets/earth-space/space-research-technology/space-science/planetary-science-research-thrusts.
Journal
The Planetary Science Journal
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
JWST Reveals Spectral Tracers of Recent Surface Modification on Europa
Article Publication Date
28-May-2025
Solar soft X-ray spectrometer: New Instrument on space for solar emissions
Low-noise read-out electronics design for a solar soft X-ray spectrometer onboard the MSS-1B satellite
Nuclear Science and Techniques
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The SXDUs consist of X-ray Detector Modules (XDMs), analog electronic units (AEUs), a data processing unit (DPU), and a power supply unit (PSU). Collimators are positioned in front of the XDMs to restrict the field of view and aperture area. The two XDMs and their associated AEUs share a common DPU and PSU. Detector power is supplied by the low- and high-voltage power supplies within the PSU. The PSU, AEU, and DPU are interconnected via a common bus board for signal transmission and power distribution. Additionally, two temperature sensors are mounted on the AEUs to monitor temperature fluctuations on the analog board.
view moreCredit: Jian-Wu Chen
Researchers from Beijing Institute of Control Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, and Macau University of Science and Technology have developed a solar X-ray detector (SXD) that features a wide energy range and a high count rate. The main goal of the instrument is to study spectral characteristics of X-ray solar flare eruption with high accuracy. These measurements require high throughput and excellent spectral resolution. The flight model integrated on the MSS-1B satellite has demonstrated remarkable in-orbit performance, achieving an energy resolution of 138 eV for solar X-ray detection. The detector's novel electronic architecture, meticulously engineered to meet stringent space mission requirements, enables reliable operation even during extreme solar events up to X-class flare intensities. Comparative analysis with existing solar X-ray instruments reveals that this new detector offers significant advancements, including enhanced energy resolution and reduced signal peaking time, which indicates a higher measurable solar flare level.
Solar X-ray detectors with wide dynamic range and high time cadence
The solar X-ray detector (SXD) on Macao Science Satellite-1B (MSS-1B) measures solar irradiance at soft X-ray band where the solar eruption varies the most. The solar flares are classified according to their X-ray brightness. It is in logarithmic scale. We enhanced the time cadence to 1 second using a dedicated X-ray signal processing design. The peaking times of the shaping amplifers were optimized to enhance the energy resolution and achieve higher count rates. In particular, two soft X-ray detector units with different aperture areas were integrated to detect solar irradiation, targeting both the quiet Sun and solar fares up to the X-class level.
Low noise and high count-rate X-ray detection electronics
Silicon drift detector (SDD) is selected as the X-ray sensor. Its unique electrode structure provides an ultralow capacitance, enabling operation at a short peaking time, which increases the count rate. The energy resolution is further improved using a thermoelectric cooler (TEC). The preamplifier output is differentiated to measure the step voltage. The shaping amplifier, designed using two-pole multiple-feedback active low-pass filters enhances the signal-to-noise ratio. Two parallel shaping amplifiers with different time constants are designed. The shaping amplifiers, with peaking times of 315 ns and 65 ns, are referred to as “slow shaping” and “fast shaping”, respectively. The differential of the shaping amplifier generates a bipolar output. The pulse width of the differential signal is significantly smaller than that of the shaping amplifier. Therefore, the differential signals of the fast channel are selected for pile-up rejection. The maximum input count rate is measured to more than 1×106 count/s. The energy resolution is calibrated using various X-ray sources. The measured energy resolution is 138 eV at 5.90 keV.
On-orbit detection of solar flares up to the X-class level
The Macau Science Satellite-1 (MSS-1) was successfully launched on 21 May 2023. Since then, the SXD captures solar flare up to X-level, the most powerful type of solar flare, at Earth. The solar X-ray spectrum typically exhibits a distinct profile, with a steeply decreasing continuum as energy increases, resulting from free-free and free-bound thermal radiation, as well as emission lines from different ionization states of elements such as Ca, Fe, S, and Ar. The SXD observations provide solar X-ray spectra with high temporal and spectral resolutions, allowing for precise spectral fits to the measured count-rate spectrum. This enables the estimate of the abundances of various elements and the detailed analysis of the temporal evolution of plasma diagnostics, including temperature, emission measure, and elemental abundances of thermal plasma during flares.
This research developed a solar X-ray detector (SXD) that features a wide energy range and a high count rate. The main goal of the instrument is to study spectral characteristics of X-ray solar flare eruption with high accuracy. These measurements require high throughput and excellent spectral resolution. The instrument on-board MSS-1B enabled the solar X-ray detection in orbit with an resolution of 138 eV. The novel electronics based on space requirements were designed to measure X-ray spectra with a high resolution up to a maximum of X-level solar flare eruption.
The complete study is accessible via DOI: 10.1007/s41365-025-01699-z.
The AEU comprises an SDD preamplifier driver, TEC power driver, and front-end readout electronics. The preamplifier generates a ramp output composed of small steps. Its output is differentiated to measure the step voltage. Two parallel shaping amplifiers with different time constants are designed to serve distinct purposes. The first amplifier is optimized for better timing accuracy, while the second is designed to achieve higher spectral resolution. The fast-shaping channel is optimized to improve double-pulse resolution and reduce pile-up; however, it introduces more noise. In contrast, the slow-shaping channel uses a longer peaking time to extract spectral information.
The Solar spectrum of M6.8-class flare during the period of 18:08:00 to 18:09:00 UT on 11 July 2023(,https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-024-1437-1).
The accompanying picture features Professor Xiaoping Zhang and hist team from State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Macau University of Science and Technology. Prof. Zhang has led the overall scientific detection scheme design and scientific data analysis of the Solar X-ray Spectrometer.
Credit
Credit
Jian-Wu Chen
Journal
Nuclear Science and Techniques
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Low-noise read-out electronics design for a solar soft X-ray spectrometer onboard the MSS-1B satellite
Article Publication Date
29-May-2025
The Second International Conference on Space Science and Technology opens grandly in Suzhou!
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The Second International Conference on Space Science and Technology Opens Grandly in Suzhou!
view moreCredit: Organizing Committee of ICSST
From May 22 to 24, 2025, The Second International Conference on Space Science and Technology (Suzhou venue) was successfully held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province! Over 300 experts, scholars, and corporate representatives in the aerospace field from more than ten countries and regions around the world gathered together to create an academic grand event. This conference focuses on further promoting cutting-edge research and innovative applications in the aerospace field, leading the rapid integration and technological breakthroughs of aerospace cross-disciplinary sciences. Taking the exchange of innovative achievements as an opportunity, it builds a “smart bond” for global cooperation in aerospace science and technology, jointly draws a “future blueprint” for collaborative innovation in space exploration, and gathers cutting-edge insights and collective wisdom for humanity's journey to deep space.
This conference was hosted by Beijing Institute of Technology and undertaken by Space: Science & Technology, the National Key Laboratory of Target Cognition and Application Technology of the Institute of Space Information Innovation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Soochow University. Academician Ye Peijian, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and recipient of the national honorary title of “People's Scientist,” served as the honorary chairman of the conference. Academician Jiang Lan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor at Beijing Institute of Technology, and Academician Chen Xiaoqian of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and researcher at the Military Academy of the People's Liberation Army of China, served as the co-chairs of the conference.
Academician Ye Peijian, Academician Chen Xiaoqian, and Vice President Pang Siping of Beijing Institute of Technology delivered opening speeches. Attending the conference and giving reports at the main forum were Academician Wang Chi, Academician Zhu Meifang, Professor Lv Jinhu of Beihang University, Researcher Pei Zhaoyu of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of the China National Space Administration, Academician Arun K. Misra of the International Academy of Astronautics, Professor Wen Chih-Yung of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Professor Dusit Niyato of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Academician Zheng Hong George Zhu of the International Academy of Astronautics, Researcher Simone Dell’Agnello of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics, and Professor Massimiliano Vasile of the University of Strathclyde in the UK. In addition, many foreign experts and scholars from the Royal Astronomical Society of the UK, the French National Observatory, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, the University of Southampton in the UK, and the Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman were invited to attend the conference and give reports at the sub-forums.
The conference featured one main forum and four sub-forums, focusing on key technologies in the aerospace field for in-depth discussions. A total of over 30 high-quality special reports presented the latest research results in the international aerospace field. The reports focused on four major themes: Deep Space Exploration: Key Scientific and Technological Challenges,Smart Innovations in Space Technology: Frontier Research and Applications, Dynamics and Control in Complex Aerospace Missions, and Aerospace Information Intelligent Processing and Application Services. They covered cutting-edge directions such as astrophysics, planetary science, artificial intelligence, metamaterials, and 6G communications, focusing on overcoming key technological bottlenecks and proposing solutions to hot issues in global aerospace research such as solar system margin exploration, lunar research station construction, and terahertz communications.
This international academic symposium carefully built a global aerospace elite dialogue platform and constructed a global academic cooperation network. Focusing on core research issues and cutting-edge research progress in the aerospace field, the experts and scholars from all walks of life had intense discussions that sparked wisdom. This is conducive to cultivating an aerospace innovation ecosystem and promoting cross-disciplinary collaborative innovation. Commercial aerospace enterprises and scientific research institutes such as Mino Space,HIT Satellite, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University / Sino-Russian International Joint Research Center for Aerospace Innovation Technology, Lan Yue electromechanical , and Huayu Space co strongly supported the conference, helping to accelerate the transformation of scientific research results and the coordinated development of industrial applications, and jointly injecting new kinetic energy into the sustainable development of human aerospace endeavors.
The afterglow of the conference results has not yet faded. The Second International Conference on Space Science and Technology (Singapore venue) will set sail at the One North campus of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore from July 22 to 24, 2025. We warmly look forward to global aerospace experts, scholars, and industry leaders coming together to exchange ideas, build industry consensus, and share cutting-edge achievements, providing intellectual support and practical paradigms for humanity's exploration of the vast universe.
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